“Walmart CEO Appears on CNBC” by Matthew Belvedere at CNBC. “The 16-day government shutdown earlier this month was a drag on Wal-Mart sales, particularly around military bases and areas with high concentrations of federal workers, said Bill Simon, president and CEO of the retail giant’s U.S. operations. “That sort of level of conversation and combativeness in Washington creates uncertainty in the economy,” Simon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.” Read more / See the video

“How Walgreen’s Went from Zero to 85 Million Loyalty Members” by Kate Kaye at Ad Age. “The single largest [challenge] was the replacement and standardization of all our POS technology,” said Mr. Holyk. That allowed the company to maintain and track points and balances in real time, he said. The system also talks to accounting systems that track expenses and sales data, integrates with promotional planning systems, and is linked to call-center and customer-service databases.” Read more

“Target’s Sourcing Secrets” by Steve Banker at Forbes. “Target sources from 35 different origins, but China is by far the most important country of origin. 80.6 percent of internationally sourced goods come from China. To help manage Chinese imports, they have inland consolidation centers and a peer team operating in China.” Read more

“Amazon’s “Vendor Flex” Program Gets Comfy with P&G” by Kim Souza at The City Wire. “In an attempt to grow its consumer product goods business, Amazon has gotten cozy with consumer products giants Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly Clark to ship personal care products straight from the assembly line…”Household staples are often bulky. Shipping these out of piggyback locations frees up space in Amazon distribution centers for higher margin items,” Long added.” Read more

“Kroger Woos Wall Street Today” by Alexander Coolidge at Cincinnati.com. “Presenting to Wall Street analysts Wednesdday, Kroger executives are expected to stress continuity and a bright future as it changes leaders. Kroger’s stock is near an all-time high. It has racked up almost 10 straight years of rising sales. And it will expand into the Southeast U.S. once it closes on an acquisition of North Carolina-based Harris Teeter.” Read more

“What Specialty Retailer Has the Highest Revenue Per Employee? Tractor Supply of Course.” by James Quinn at Smart Trend. “Tractor Supply ranks highest with a an RPE of $619,000. Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance is next with a an RPE of $612,000. Dick’s Sporting Goods ranks third highest with a an RPE of $592,000. Cabela’s follows with a an RPE of $561,000.” Read more

“Wal-Mart China Announces New Management Changes” at China Retail News. “Liang Guiji, senior vice president for Wal-Mart’s business development in China, has resigned. Wal-Mart said it is due to personal reasons.” Read more

“What is Google Hiding on Its ‘Mystery Barges’ ? by Jessica Wohl at Reuters. “How badly does Google want to keep under wraps a mysterious project taking shape on a barge in San Francisco Bay? Badly enough to require U.S. government officials to sign confidentiality agreements. At least one Coast Guard employee has had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the Internet giant, said Barry Bena, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman. Another person who would only identify himself as an inspector for a California government agency had to do the same.” Read more